1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to mufflers for internal combustion engines, in particular mufflers for performance vehicles where high backpressure within the muffler is undesirable.
2. Prior Art
The purpose of the muffler is to suppress or modulate the sound emanating from the exhaust ports of an internal combustion. The noise suppression method employed must be geared to minimize the backpressure reflected toward the engine to assure that efficient operation of the engine is assured.
In order to suppress engine exhaust noise, mufflers are connected to the engine exhaust manifold to handle the gaseous byproduct of the engine combustion cycle. These exhaust gases and sounds associated with fuel combustion are ported to the muffler. It is common to suppress this acoustic energy through the use of sharp turns, sharp edges, packings, baffles, and perforated or non-perforated tubing. The goal, while attenuating this acoustic energy, is to minimize the resistance to flow of the gases through the muffler, thereby resulting in lower backpressure reflected to the engine. Most of the prior art inventions are tuned to unidirectional flow wherein there are specific input and output ports to effectively attenuate or tune the sound emanating from the exhaust. These prior art mufflers are unidirectional in that they will function properly only when the gases enter a pre-designated entrance end of the muffler wherein there is a preferred backpressure direction. If the exit port of the muffler is connected to the exhaust port of the engine, overheating of components within the engine due to excessive backpressure may cause damage.
The present invention resolves these and other issues by presenting a symmetrical configuration in which either end may be connected to the exhaust port of the engine as the backpressure in the preferred embodiment is the same in both directions. Moreover the muffler, being triangular in cross section, is stackable in a compact configuration such that dual mufflers can be individually connected to each exhaust manifold in two manifold engines for more efficient exhaust porting. Additionally, the mufflers in this stacked configuration may be connected in series for additional attenuation if desired.